Wednesday, 21 May 2014

Thankfully the thunder and lightning didn't return last night - well the thunder did a bit but nothing electrical, phew!!! I really didn’t want a repeat of Monday night.

It’s only a shortie today but I thought Id share a little something that I took to sunny Peterborough last time we were on Create & Craft and …..

… here it is.

A lovely little birdy house. If I was a bird, I’d think this was actually a rather fab des res and I’d be more than happy to live in it : )

I really like this and it was so much fun to make.

I used a Sissix Bigz XL Birdhouse die and the papers are from the very gorgeous LOTV Pressed In Time paper pads. I think the soft earthy tones were perfect for this project.

I used various dies and punches to make the blooms and leaves and also I stuck on some sphagnum moss as well. It isn't easy to stick it on but if you use blobs of silicone glue and then push the moss into it, it seems to stick OK.

Tuesday, 20 May 2014

Morning peeps and what a storm we had here last night. Blimey it was like a Hammer horror film at one point (well maybe not that bad but it was pretty spectacular nonetheless).

It’s that time of the week when we check in with the Papertake girlies and this week we have an

Ohhh So Cute

challenge. Instead of making a card, I decided to do do a bit of embroidery hoop art and make a hanger for little Thea’s new bedroom which has an owl theme.

And ….

.. this is what I did.

IRL it looks much nicer than it does on this quite frankly bloody awful photo. I faffed and faffed and hung it here and hung it there and ended up putting a sheet of lilac card down and photographing it flat. I’m STILL not happy with it – there’s more shadows here than I don't know what!! But the light is so bad here today : (

Sadly, this really is the best of a bad job I’m afraid.

You can get these hoops really cheaply – I got mine from Amazon but I bet you can get them even cheaper if you look about.

I painted the outer frame with white gesso and covered the inside frame with some Promises Solids paper which is perfect for this because it looks kind of quilted. The easiest way to do this is to cut a circle approx 1/4” larger than the inside diameter of the hoop. Then place the hoop onto it and draw around the inside with pencil on the wrong side of the paper. Now just make cuts around the edge up to your pencil line and glue it onto the hoop. The cuts make little notches which simply fold over the edge of the hoop.

The owl die is a Marianne’s Creatables Owl die –= it’s verrry sweet – and I used papers from Promises, Bonnets & BowtiesandPromises Solids to make it. I inked the edges to make each piece stand out and I used foam pads to add dimension to the wings and eyes.

The easiest way to attach the lace is with a hot glue gun. Doing very small sections at a time, just add blobs of glue onto the wood then with your tweezers, push the lace into place, making sure that you gather it as you go. There’s no need to sew – the glue will hold it on place and you can use the tips of the tweezers to ouch it along (hope that makes sense!!).

Right that's me done on the card front.

Wasn't that storm bad peeps. I’m not generally scared of thunder but I was decidedly uneasy last night, especially as Richard was working and I was on my own. The cat kept howling as well which did nothing to calm my nerves!!! She isn't bothered by thunder either usually but for some reason it was winding her up last night, so we were just generally spooking each other - a right pair of scaredy cats together lol. At one point the storm was right over head and I really didn't like it one little bit.

Such a wuss!!!

Right on that wimpy note, I’m off. Have a fab day and huggiest of hugs to all xx

I hope you don't think I’m a right old curtain twitcher but something unusual happened here earlier today.

My office at home is upstairs and I look out onto a lane which runs alongside some fields – I cant really help looking out there. The lane also leads to a local cattery and this morning I did notice a red car pull up to where it’s signposted for the cattery but thought no more of it as people use it to turn around quite often.

I wish I had have taken notice now though.

Some time later, another car pulled up and I looked out because I heard a dog barking. It was a couple and they seemed to be very interested in something on the floor. It all looked a bit odd and the next thing, the woman picked up a cat carrier and was walking back to her car, followed by the man who was carrying another cat carrier. Next thing, the lid opened – it was obviously not closed properly, and out flew the most gorgeous cat. It ran in a blind panic across the road and into the wood next to our house. The couple then got into the car with the other carrier and drove up the lane – presumably to the cattery.

They left soon after and I rang the cattery – I know them in there - to tell them that there was a cat in the wood. They told me that it was one of 3 cats that had just been abandoned in the cat carriers at the end of the lane. Well words just failed me to be honest. Who in their right mind would do that in this heat? One of the carriers was still there and was empty and I’m guessing that the couple who saw them put 2 cats together in another of the carriers. The carrier that was left had food in it but no water, and it seems that the 2 that were safe had been well cared for and very friendly - the girls in the cattery told me that. Whoever left them clearly took care to leave them where they surely would be found but the fact remains that there is one cat out there who is probably terrified and alone.

I cannot bear people who just dump their pets like they are rubbish when they have had enough of them but there is something about this that makes me think that isn't strictly the case here. We have scoured the wood but cannot see the cat, so it is possibly hiding or has completely ran off. I hope we manage to find it before it gets hurt or worse.

So on that rather worrying note, I’m off to the post office (random I know lol).

I’ll see you tomoz but till then, enjoy the sun and huggiest of hugs to all xx.

Saturday, 17 May 2014

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the washing is blowing on the line, the cat is fed, Richard is at work until 6pm and I have a couple of hours before the two horrors descend so I am going to make the most of it with a spot of crafting, yayyy!!!

Last Saturday was theLili of The Valley 10th Birthday and it was FAB. I had a great time and it was nice to see some old friends, plus I made some new friends as well. It was lovely to see so many of the DT, including Dena and Mary who I hadn't met before. There were so many people who came to the shop, it was quite something. Then after we closed up, we all had a special dinner in the evening which was just brilliant. There were 26 of us and the time just flew by. We all went to bed tired but very happy I think.

Sunday was full of incidents but more of that in a sec.

Saturday also saw the release of the sweet new fairies and it seems that lots of you love them as much as we do. We also released some brilliant new craft kits which include a picnic hamper, a mini basket and a gorgeous fold over tag card. They are made from the beautiful Promises paper, they are all pop outs so really easy to use and are they are perfect for just about everybody. Kids will have a blast making them up and the more accomplished crafter will really be able to go to town with them. You only need glue and your imagination!!!

The kits all come with full instructions and they all have a sheet of sentiments and a sheet of flowers for you to decorate your finished projects. But these are also available to buy on their own. Again these are pop outs and you get 19 sentiments and 39 flowers and these sheets are just £1 each : ))))

So anyway, I thought the blossoms sheet would be perfect to make one of them there card in a boxes which are so popular at the mo.

So that is ……

… just what I did.

This is my first go at one and I rather like it. Colour is the thing that always grabs me and I love the soft lilacs and pretty mint greens in these papers.

Some of the flowers here were die cut and I made a couple of rolled roses and scruffy fluffy flowers (I was in a faffing sort of mood !!), but the majority were made from that one sheet and I still have loads left to add to another cards or to make another one of these. You can chop into them, layer them up, the world is your lobster : ) And because they all match beautifully, you can put any of them together and they’ll work.

So really, with very little effort, I’ve ended up with something quite nice I think.

Right, back to last weekend.

Gretha and her friend Karin and I had breakfast and then I said I would take them back to the hotel where their other friends had been staying over in Pudsey. So we all checked out and off we went., It should have taken us about 15 minutes max but we didn't bank on the fun run that was taking place there and basically it had been organised in a big circle around the area we were in so lots of roads were closed, including the main one we needed to get onto.

So nobody could get in and nobody could get out - we were stuck!!

We tried various routes but they all led back to this one main road which was closed. We even asked a local and he said that there was nothing we could do except park the car and wait it out, which is what we did. I pulled over down a side street where there was a large grassy area and rang Rich to let him know why I was going to be late back. Just as I finished the call, an old guy with an equally old dog appeared at my window. He gave me a bit of a start to be honest but he told me that it was OK and he wasn't going to do anything (????). But then he proceeded to shout at me for parking on the pavement.

Now I have to say that 2 wheels were over the kerb but I wasn't blocking off the pavement in any way shape or form. It clearly was a ‘thing’ he had because he told me that he was sick off me and my friends doing it. What friends I asked him? The other ones that were always doing it he told me and ‘don’t do it again’. I pointed out that I was not responsible for anybody else and that I only pulled over to use the phone but he was having none of it. I thanked him (yes, it was in a very sarcastic tone) for letting me know and his parting words (equally sarcastic) before he shuffled off were ‘that’s OK and I will be sure to tell you if you ever do it again’. Then he crossed the road and went into his gate where he pretended to close it but we could see him peeping through it, watching us.

Not often that I am lost for words but I was quite speechless!!

We sat there sort of looking at each other, not really sure about what had just happened. Anyway eventually the roads were opened and an hour and 15 minutes later we were on our way again. I dropped the girls off then headed for the motorway thinking that I would be home in just over an hour.

WRONG!!

I got snagged up with all the footie traffic around Manchester and then again just before the junction with the M56 (no idea why??). But I got home eventually and even that messing about wasn’t going to spoil my weekend.

Right, what a loooooooon post today. I’ve waffled more than usual, (sorry peeps), so I’ll get off and leave you all in peace.

Wednesday, 7 May 2014

Morning sweet peeps and thanks for stopping by today. It’s time for another Lili of The Valley blog hop and today we’re celebrating the launch of the sweetBirthday Fairies

There are 10 adorable new stamps in the set and they will be available to buy on the website from 10am on Saturday 10th May which is our open day.

As you may or may not know, the shop in Leeds is open for the Birthday celebrations, and if you can get there you will be in for a real treat because apart from the new fairies being in residence, we have design team members from all over the world coming along, wooohooooo : )

There’s going to be more new products, demonstrations plus some very special offers …. we are all soooo excited about it and it should be a really great day.

Don’t worry if you can’t get to the shop because there will be some online fun too - we don't want to leave anybody out : ). We will let you have details nearer the time but Lucy will be on Facebook throughout the day bringing you chat, news and pictures from the shop so you can ‘virtually’ join in with us as well.

OK so for the hop, you just need to go from one blog to another following the links, and hopefully along the way you will pick up some ideas and inspiration for using these cute new images as well.

As always we have some hidden prizes along the way, we don’t know where they are so do be sure to visit and comment on every blog

We will let you know on the Ideas to Inspire blog on Saturday morning which were the ‘lucky’ blogs and the prize winners winners will be drawn at random from all the comments that were left on those blogs.

And talking about prizes ….

We have 2 full sets of the new stamps to give away, 2 lucky winners will each get all 10 new designs

Here's a list of all the blogs taking part, and remember that you will need to visit them all and leave a comment on each one to have the best chance of winning;

Tuesday, 6 May 2014

Hi sweet peeps and sorry for the repetitive post title. I do like it though and in the absence of anything better, I thought I’d drag it out once more!!

So it’s time for another

Anything Goes

challenge over at Papertake Weekly and this month our optional extra is to not use any patterned paper. Oh that scared the bejayzus out of me I can tell you, and being lily livered, I didn’t go for that one!!

But I did go for something lily – I used another of the soon to be released birthday fairies and this one ….

I made the blooms using the Promises Solids papers and some yellow card. The die is a Sissix Flower Layers & Leaf die and the leaves were done with a Memory Box Lavish Branch die. No prizes for guessing what I made the lacy border with (thank you kindly, Miss Martha Stewart!!).

It’s a nice clean and fresh card – just the sort I like really, so I was quite pleased with how it turned out.

You probably can’t tell from the pics but I’m using a lot of 8x8 card bases lately. I’ve discovered that they are perfect for making different sized card bases and the world is your lobster re the shape and also they work well with the LOTV 8x8 paper pads.

Right I’m off so I’ll see you back here as soon as soon.

But before I go, don’t forget that it’s our ….

... this weekend. Please do let me know if you’re going to pop along and do come and say howdy. We’ve got lots of lovely things going on and it promises to be the most amazing day. To say that we are excited is probably the understatement of the year!!

Yes, this really is me. Not very pink I agree but maybe a little bit piggy xxx

I'm Dawny P.
I'm a freelance designer, craft tutor and demonstrator and I live in Chester with Richard, my partner of 15 years and our cat, Saffy. I'm mummsy to Nickie and Emma and Grandma to Kyla & Thea who are the light of my life.
I've always been a crafty girl and before making cards, I did pottery for many years and I had my own ceramics workshop.
I do have a proper job and I work full time but apart from demo work and classes, I also run a card club in Ellesmere Port which I started in October 2008.
As you can probably tell, life is pretty busy. And if that wasn't enough, we also breed birds of prey!!

Don't Want To Miss A Post? Follow By Email :)

WORKSHOPS & CLASSES

Want To Subscribe To All Things Piggy? Just Click On The Button Lovely Peeps xxx

PCG Member

Badge

Please Respect My Copyright

All images, sketches and words on here are digitally copyrighted, but if any of my creations inspire you, then please feel free to use them to send to family and friends. All I ask is that you don't use them to sell or for submission to any crafty or card making mags or publications, for competitions or for use in workshops or classes. Thank you for respecting my copyright.

Search This Blog

For Sale .....My Pink Piggy Cards

Last Cards Added 28th April 2012

I'm Wearing ThisWith Pride :)

Commissions & Demos

I'm happy to accept commissions and design or demo work, so if you'd like to add a little touch of cheap and cheerful pigginess, please contact me via e-mail at dawnyp123@hotmail.co.uk

FABULOUS Shopping

The Cutest Place on the Web

Why Oh Why!!!!!!

Please please PLEASE no spammers. This is just a space for my visitors to chat so stop making a sodding nuisance of yourself and go and play elsewhere!!!!! You are not invited, and you are not welcome so clear off why dontcha!!!!!.

ETA I've removed the chatbox peeps, sorry. I was inundated with rubbish and genuine messages just got lost amongst it all. Please email me if you have any questions and I will be happy to help if I can. Sorry for any inconvenience xxx